Talk:XML/Output: Difference between revisions
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:: Why not simply have a name in the list which includes something with a named entity, like the German "Jürgen" ("Jürgen") or the french "André" ("André")? --[[User:Ce|Ce]] 09:18, 8 June 2009 (UTC) |
:: Why not simply have a name in the list which includes something with a named entity, like the German "Jürgen" ("Jürgen") or the french "André" ("André")? --[[User:Ce|Ce]] 09:18, 8 June 2009 (UTC) |
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::: Because those don't ''need'' to be encoded; the data stream might be UTF-8 (which is actually the default for XML...) For the quoting to work, we'd need to force the inclusion of each of <code><>'"&</code> (those are the only ones that XML requires handling, and even the quoting characters only need doing in some circumstances; it's really messy) and those characters don't look like first names. (The set of things you're supposed to quote is larger in HTML.) —[[User:Dkf|Donal Fellows]] 10:47, 8 June 2009 (UTC) |
::: Because those don't ''need'' to be encoded; the data stream might be UTF-8 (which is actually the default for XML...) For the quoting to work, we'd need to force the inclusion of each of <code><>'"&</code> (those are the only ones that XML requires handling, and even the quoting characters only need doing in some circumstances; it's really messy) and those characters don't look like first names. (The set of things you're supposed to quote is larger in HTML.) —[[User:Dkf|Donal Fellows]] 10:47, 8 June 2009 (UTC) |
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:::: Of course, the task description contains: "If attempting this task by direct string manipulation, the implementation ''must'' include code to perform entity substitution for the characters that have entities defined in the XML 1.0 specification." That is, the task says, encode whereever you ''can'', not wherever you ''must''. --[[User:Ce|Ce]] 11:54, 8 June 2009 (UTC) |
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== What is the point? == |
== What is the point? == |
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It would make more sense if the task would be for example to read list of names from a text file and use it to create an XML file with specified structure. In that case it would make sense to to require converting special characters into entities, since such special characters might exist in the input file. In order to compare the output, you could then have an example input file. --[[User:PauliKL|PauliKL]] 11:48, 8 June 2009 (UTC) |
It would make more sense if the task would be for example to read list of names from a text file and use it to create an XML file with specified structure. In that case it would make sense to to require converting special characters into entities, since such special characters might exist in the input file. In order to compare the output, you could then have an example input file. --[[User:PauliKL|PauliKL]] 11:48, 8 June 2009 (UTC) |
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: Instead of reading from a file, just get it from standard input (or more generally, "from the user"). That way, the task doesn't get cluttered with file system stuff unrelated to this task. --[[User:Ce|Ce]] 11:54, 8 June 2009 (UTC) |
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Revision as of 11:54, 8 June 2009
You need to separate the task description fully from the example so others can follow the description alone. --Paddy3118 19:43, 28 December 2008 (UTC)
How about extending the task by adding a 'special' name that needs escaping, such as '<None>', and ask for sample output. You would then force entries to handle escaped characters. --Paddy3118 05:15, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
- On one level that'd be good, but on another it's not so good. (XML docs aren't supposed to contain magic flag values in text nodes; that's what using a different elements is for...) —Donal Fellows 09:00, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
- Why not simply have a name in the list which includes something with a named entity, like the German "Jürgen" ("Jürgen") or the french "André" ("André")? --Ce 09:18, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
- Because those don't need to be encoded; the data stream might be UTF-8 (which is actually the default for XML...) For the quoting to work, we'd need to force the inclusion of each of
<>'"&(those are the only ones that XML requires handling, and even the quoting characters only need doing in some circumstances; it's really messy) and those characters don't look like first names. (The set of things you're supposed to quote is larger in HTML.) —Donal Fellows 10:47, 8 June 2009 (UTC)- Of course, the task description contains: "If attempting this task by direct string manipulation, the implementation must include code to perform entity substitution for the characters that have entities defined in the XML 1.0 specification." That is, the task says, encode whereever you can, not wherever you must. --Ce 11:54, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
- Because those don't need to be encoded; the data stream might be UTF-8 (which is actually the default for XML...) For the quoting to work, we'd need to force the inclusion of each of
- Why not simply have a name in the list which includes something with a named entity, like the German "Jürgen" ("Jürgen") or the french "André" ("André")? --Ce 09:18, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
What is the point?
If the task requires creating some fixed output, the easiest and most effective way would be just to insert the required contents in the file. That has very little to do with real world problems.
It would make more sense if the task would be for example to read list of names from a text file and use it to create an XML file with specified structure. In that case it would make sense to to require converting special characters into entities, since such special characters might exist in the input file. In order to compare the output, you could then have an example input file. --PauliKL 11:48, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
- Instead of reading from a file, just get it from standard input (or more generally, "from the user"). That way, the task doesn't get cluttered with file system stuff unrelated to this task. --Ce 11:54, 8 June 2009 (UTC)